Over the last few months, Governor-Elect Terry McAuliffe has come out in strong opposition to lifting Virginia’s current moratorium on uranium mining. At a Veteran’s Day event in Norfolk, he stated, “I don’t support uranium mining. First and foremost as governor, my job is to make sure that our communities and our citizenry are safe. I’m not comfortable with the science to the point that I can say that with uranium mining, we would be safe. I’m afraid it would get into the drinking water.”

His concerns are validated by the studies that have cost us 3 million dollars over the last few years and have found that mining would be a significant threat to drinking water, public health, and local economies. Left behind would be huge volumes of radioactive and toxic waste, which has been linked to leukemia, kidney disease, and health problems for centuries in Virginia.